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Open and shut: Ragin' Pot brings hot-pot dining to Port Hueneme

Ragin' Pot restaurant in Port Hueneme focuses on a personalized version of traditional hot-pot dining. It's one of several restaurant openings and closings Lisa McKinnon covers in this week's Open and Shut column.

At Ragin' Pot in Port Hueneme, co-owner John Le starts each day by placing a decorative sign just outside the front door.

"You're hot, but I can make you hotter," it reads, the cheekiness of the message softened by the fact that all of the handwritten O's have been rendered as smiley faces. They are joined by a line drawing of a bowl resting on flames, with steam rising above.

Drawn by an employee, it's an accurate representation of the restaurant's titular dish, described as "Asian fusion hot pot."

Hot pot traditionally is a communal affair, with one large bowl of simmering soup stock available to everyone at the table for dipping bits of meat, seafood and vegetables.

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A Ragin' Special hot pot served with a kim chi soup base and a side of vermicelli noodles is seen at Ragin' Pot in Port Hueneme. The bowl rests atop a wood-and-metal box with a container of Sterno inside.(Photo: LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR)

"This is a more personalized, more individual way to do hot pot," said Le, who with wife Myle Luu operates the restaurant and the couple's other business, New Asia Marketplace, about a mile away in Oxnard (3823 Saviers Road). Family members own the similarly named seafood-boil restaurant Ragin' Crawfish, which opened a year ago in Oxnard (480 S. Victoria Ave., Suite A).

At Ragin' Pot, diners select a soup base, a spice level and the ingredients that will go into their bowl. Options range from vegetarian (tofu, soy meat, kabocha squash and more, $12.95) to the Ragin' Special (sliced beef, fish cake, shrimp, beef balls and more, $14.95). Orders come with a choice of vermicelli noodles or steamed rice, accompanied by a tray of three sauces for dipping: seasoned soy sauce, bean sauce and chili sauté sauce.

The featured dish comes out of the kitchen on a wheeled cart, the better to avoid spills from the metal bowl balanced atop a hollow box of wood and metal. Inside the box is a container of Sterno that, once lighted, gets the bowl's contents good and hot. Patrons signal when they're ready for the flame to be extinguished.

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Orchids and decorative light fixtures are seen at the host station inside Ragin' Pot in Port Hueneme. The glass dividers etched with grapevines are reminders of when the space was occupied by Mariann's Italian Villa.(Photo: LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR)

In Camarillo, Julian's Restaurant & Bar is temporarily closed "to attend to maintenance repairs and facility improvements," according to a notice taped to the front door (2433 Ventura Blvd.) Dated Nov. 4 and signed by "Julian's Management," the notice indicates that the plan is to reopen the restaurant "within the next two weeks."

But in the comments to a Nov. 6 Facebook post about the discontinuation of music at Julian's "until further notice," someone with access to the restaurant's social-media account wrote, simply, "new owners coming."

Julian's opened in May at what previously was Old Town Tavern, The French Bulldog and JJ Brewsky's Restaurant & Bar. Its owners included members of the same family who operated Verona Trattoria just a few doors away; that restaurant closed in February to make way for the expansion of a neighboring spa.

As of Tuesday, the closure of Julian's had yet to be mentioned on the restaurant's website, and its outgoing phone message still invited callers to make reservations by leaving a message. Attempts to contact the restaurant's original owners were not immediately successful.

In Moorpark, Taste of Punjab Cuisine of India opened Oct. 27 in the Tuscany Square Shopping Center. The dining room is decorated in tones of gray, silver and black, with dozens of framed mirrors dotting the walls. An all-you-can-eat lunch buffet ($8.99 per person) is available daily in addition to the regular menu from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner service runs from 3-9 p.m.

The vegetarian portion of the menu features a different lentil each day (dal makhani, $9.99), plus aloo gobi ($9.99) and malai kofta ($10.99). Chicken tikka masala ($11.99), goat korma ($12.99), lamb vindaloo ($12.99) and fish curry ($13.99) are also available, along with samosas ($4.99), dosas ($6.99-$8.99) and tandoori roti and naan ($1.49 and $1.99, respectively).

Elsewhere in Moorpark, Hot Spot BBQ debuted last month at the Campus Plaza shopping center space previously occupied by Eddymame the Grill and Custom Melt. The new restaurant specializing in Kansas City-style 'cue cooked over red oak is owned and operated by Daniel Placencia, who has competed on the barbecue circuit and previously owned The Cowboy Way restaurant in Palm Springs.

The menu includes deep-fried pickles ($8.95), bowls of chili ($10.95), sandwiches ranging from hot link on a bun ($6.95) to turkey, bacon and avocado ($14.95), plates with two sides ($15.95 for half a chicken, $16.95 for brisket), and combo plates with two sides and diners' choice of two meats ($17.95) or three ($18.95).

The "just meat" portion of the menu includes half a chicken ($8), pork ($16.95 per pound), brisket ($19.95 per pound) and one-third, one-half and full baby back ribs ($8, $16.50 and $24.95, respectively). Hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1-7 p.m. Sundays (6593 Collins Drive, Unit D4, 805-876-0302).

The long-awaited Moorpark version of Mission Burrito is headed for a pre-Thanksgiving debut, according to the manager whose phone number is listed on the "now hiring" sign taped to the door (888-A New Los Angeles Ave.).

Located next to Kohl's in the Moorpark Marketplace, the new restaurant will be operated by the owners of Mission Burrito sites in West Hills and Woodland Hills; it is not affiliated with a similarly named business in Simi Valley. Its neighbors in Moorpark will include Brick Oven Pizza, It's a Grind Coffee House, Jimmy John's Sandwiches, Kiku Japanese Grill and La Michoacana Palteria & Ice Cream Shop (https://www.missionburritomex.com).

On Moorpark's historic High Street, a "coming soon" banner announces the intended arrival of Marco's Ristorante Italiano at the cheery yellow-and-white house that was vacated by Carli's Bistro in October 2016. The opening date is unknown. Pieces of kitchen equipment were seen in the side yard last week, when a peek in the windows revealed interior improvements ranging from new flooring to a remodeled kitchen window/order area (313 E. High St.)